Monday, August 27, 2012

Flowers!


hello my dear friends. its me again. 
since days I'm thinking about a topic i can write about. so i made a decision: flowers! aren't flowers the best to pimp a boring and ugly part of the house? you can get all kinds of colors, shapes and sizes. you'll  find cool styles, romantic styles, crazy styles, whatever you want. 
what i really love, and that may sound really weird, is the fact, that flowers are perishable. that means you have every week a chance of a new beginning. doesn't that sound lovely? wouldn't it be a dream if we would have that opportunity in other parts of our lives. 
imagine if we would be able to start new with difficult relationships. 
fights could be solved in loving ways, we would learn to really forgive, we would learn to really see the other person in its beauty and uniqueness and realize the priceless value of every single one. 
i think we should work on this attitude, like we work on the new beautiful flower bouquets in our houses. the world would look much better, don't you think?   
when i create an arrangement with flowers -and i hardly ever buy ready made flower bouquets- I'm sometimes so touched by its beauty that i have tears in my eyes. really. i know, i know. I'm a strange person. well. 
here are some pictures of this kind of decoration.
i hope you like it.
if you want to make your own arrangements, always use a clean vase and lukewarm water. remove all leaves that could touch the water. cut with a sharp knife the end of the flower stalk in length and put in the water immediately.  change the water every second day. this helps to keep the flowers fresh for up to one week.

The secret is the freshness of the flowers and the variety of possibilities to arrange them. its not necessary to buy always flowers in a shop. maybe you find some during a walk, or you have some in the garden (or in the neighbors garden, or, hm, just be careful;-)) also markets are sometimes a good source.
what makes a big difference is the container you use. try out unusual things, like cups, bowls, jam glasses etc. i found some very nice peaces at the flee market. some ribbon, rope or other materials may help to create a unique and very special look.

so have fun trying out some new decorations and things.

i hope you enjoy it.

see you soon.

please register at my blog as member and give your comment. i'd like to hear some feedback and thoughts. 
blessings, ute 




this is the shop in zittau where i buy most of my flowers.




















Monday, August 20, 2012

Competition!



Hello again!
After the nice and smooth start last week, i 'd like to continue with some more of my thoughts and experiences i had so far with starting this blog.
when i decided to start, i had no clue how this works. so i was a little overwhelmed by the fact, that i need a name for it. i couldn't find one.
so, since at least two of my family members ( my husband jan and my sweet daughter amelie) are extremely into competitions - not always fun, believe me- i asked them to find a name. the price was, that i cook whatever the winner wants me to cook.
as i already mentioned last time, jan found the name.
so, his wish was wiener schnitzel, kroketten (this is similar to french fries, but actually made with mashed potatoes) and götterspeise (this is usually something like jelly-o). yak.
so for the götterspeise i told jan im gonna buy it, but he nailed me down, that i promised that i cook myself. well.

so i took organic gelatine, one liter (about 4 cups) of raspberry juice, one cup of grenadine juice, sugar and fresh raspberries. 
i put the gelatine in cold water until its soft. 
then i heated up the juice and the sugar. it needs to taste quite sweet.
when the juice is hot, but not boiling, i stir in the gelatine until its completely gone. if you cook it, it doesn't work!!!
then i put in the raspberries.
i fill it in glasses and let it cool down in the fridge for a couple of hours. 
shortly before the meal i decorate it with whipped cream and some berries.
its very refreshing, kids will love it!! and so much better than bought jelly-o. and all natural.


the second thing was the wiener schnitzel. that was easy, because the whole family likes it i make it anyways sometimes.
so you take good meat. the original wiener schnitzel is made with calf meat. I'm using sometimes pork, sometimes turkey. good quality is important.
then you take three bowls. one with flower, one with scrambled eggs and one with bread crumbs. put some salt on the meet and then put it first in the flower, than in the egg and then in the breadcrumbs. the meat needs to be covered from all sides. 
heat good oil in a pan and fry the schnitzel in it. use enough oil! don't use too much heat.
when the schnitzel is golden brown and crunchy, its done. yum!
serve it with slices of organic lemons. everybody can squeeze the lemon juice over the schnitzel themselves. yuuuum!!!!

i put the cover of silence over the kroketten. i bought them -ready to heat- at the supermarket. hm. shame on me. don't tell jan.

so we had a very nice and tasty winner meal. 

by the way, especially for my dear american friends: the original wiener schnitzel is not a typical german food! wien is the capital of austria! close, but not germany!

see you soon again! thanks for reading. blessings, yours ute

3NMA7X8Q3V7S

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Welcome!


my dearest people and readers of this blog.
its almost unbelievable, that im starting now with this new and exciting adventure.
i want to write in my blog about beautyful things and living, good and healthy food, family and friends and we will see, what else will come along.
in the last months and years i developed more and more a desire to surround myself with beauty and good things and people. specially since we are living in an area of germany, where there is not a lot of sense for things like that.
i will write my blog in english, since very many of my friends are English-speaking. my english is not really perfect, so please forgive me, if some phrases are not right. i hope i will not make any embarrassing mistakes :-).
so before we will start i want to thank liz mannchen. shes a very good friend and had the idea to start this blog. she once made a comment, that the coffee table  in our kitchen was looking like the table in the peter pan movie. so, thank you, liz, for the idea and for loving me!
also a big thank you to my husband jan schlegel. he had the idea for the blogs name. so he found the laundry pin, and a little later he added the pink. i think he thought im a pink one. i love you.

im also very thankful to my dear son benedikt schlegel. he does all the computer stuff, because computers hate me. he is incredibly patient and encouraging. your a special one.
and finally i want to thank my son jonathan and his friends, my daughter amelie and her friends, the rest of the family and our many dear friends who are always welcome in our home and at our table.







Thanks for being with me. please let me know what you think.  im also thankful for new ideas. more will come soon. exciting!